52.
“Hello.”
“…!!”
Ryu Ho-yeon looked up with a start. It wasn’t some overly familiar “Hey, what’s up?” greeting from someone he barely knew, but a straightforward “Hello” – five syllables in Korean.
Even if this had been Seoul, his wariness of strangers wouldn’t have changed at all, but unfortunately, this was the headquarters of the Union, filled with people who only spoke English.
“I noticed you’ve been circling around this area for a while. I thought perhaps you might be lost.”
Goodness, goodness, goodness! No wonder the “Hello” was pronounced so perfectly. The white man with striking red hair spoke Korean at such a high level that his appearance gave no hint of his language ability. Moreover, his attitude was just right—friendly but not too pushy, maintaining a comfortable distance.
For Ryu Ho-yeon, who was often subjected to unwanted kindness due to his eye-catching appearance, this man was the perfect interlocutor. So, Ho-yeon decided to graciously respond to the man’s goodwill.
“Yes.”
And a nod.
“Ah… so you are lost, correct?”
“Yes.”
And another nod.
…What an impressively sincere response from someone who needed help rather than providing it. The person who had initiated the conversation seemed slightly taken aback, scratching the back of his neck before struggling to speak again.
“Umm, please tell me where you’re trying to go. I’ll give you directions.”
“!!”
Using directions as an excuse to tag along, or asking for contact information—he did none of that. Instead, he plainly offered to just provide directions. Ryu Ho-yeon became increasingly pleased with this stranger’s behavior.
Looking at him again, his appearance seemed quite decent. In fact, because Ho-yeon was used to seeing his own face in the mirror every day, his standards were naturally high, but the man’s looks were actually quite handsome.
“The guest accommodation building.”
“Oh…!”
The man’s eyes suddenly lit up. What’s this? Had Ho-yeon let his guard down unnecessarily? Would the man now reveal his true intentions, claiming love at first sight or something similar?
Ryu Ho-yeon firmly raised his internal defenses again. It was the instinctive protection of an unsociable, introverted person who had countless people professing their love after just a brief encounter.
“Are you perhaps one of the invited members of the U-class specialized team? Me too! Wow, nice to meet you! We’re staying in the same building, yet somehow we’ve never met. Which floor are you on? I’m on the 8th… Oops. Privacy, privacy.”
The man who had exclaimed his delight quickly toned down his enthusiasm, realizing his mistake even before Ho-yeon could show his discomfort. Since he didn’t press the question, Ho-yeon decided to pretend he hadn’t heard.
“Do you see that large building with the glass facade over there? That’s the memorial hall.”
The man had such fluent Korean skills that if you closed your eyes, he would sound just like a native Korean speaker, but as soon as English words slipped out, he immediately sounded foreign again. Judging by his accent, he seemed more British than American.
“Once you get there, keep your back to the main lobby and go straight to the right. You’ll see the building right away. Make sure to stay on the main road and don’t take any smaller paths!”
“Ah, yes.”
Substituting a nod for a thank you, Ryu Ho-yeon immediately got up and started walking away at a brisk pace. The man, thinking that since they had made a connection, they should at least exchange some small talk, was momentarily flustered and took large strides to block Ho-yeon’s path.
A flinch. Sharp wariness instantly bloomed on Ho-yeon’s pretty face. The man loaded his trustworthy smile, which had been quite effective throughout his life.
“…?”
It had absolutely no effect. Ho-yeon still wore a wary expression, silently sending question marks with just his eyes. The man’s smile had been effective on most people not because of his trustworthy demeanor but because of his handsome appearance, and even his relatively good-looking face had no power whatsoever in front of Ryu Ho-yeon, who possessed overwhelming beauty.
At this rate, it seemed the man would only leave a bad impression without any benefit from initiating the conversation, so he hurriedly spoke up.
“I’m sorry, it’s nothing serious, but I thought if we happen to run into each other at the accommodation building, we could at least greet each other.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why? Is there any particular reason?”
“Not really. I just don’t greet people I don’t know.”
“Then from now on, let’s be acquaintances! I’m Lexie. In Korean pronunciation, just Lexie, simple, right? It’s not even long, so you should be able to remember this much, right?”
“No.”
If Ryu Ho-yeon’s social sense had been even just average—no more, no less—the conversation between the two would have flowed much more smoothly. Lexie, looking troubled with the corners of his mouth quivering, was left behind as Ho-yeon sidestepped him and quickly disappeared with hurried steps.
“Ah, this is…”
The man’s eyebrow rose slightly as he watched Ho-yeon’s figure disappear in the distance, still wearing a smile. With just that small change, the impression of the seemingly benevolent man transformed completely.
“I expected it to be difficult, but it’s even harder than I anticipated. This might take some time.”
If Ryu Ho-yeon hadn’t been mentally drained from his long wandering and psychological impact from some previous event, he could have immediately detected something off about the man who had approached him under the guise of a kind citizen.
With facial features that were more distinctly Western than Eastern, light-colored hair, and eye color—it would naturally be difficult for anyone to immediately identify Ryu Ho-yeon as Korean just by his appearance.
Even if Ho-yeon’s appearance had been that of a typical East Asian, it would have been a risk to assume Korean and immediately greet him with “Hello” in Korean without asking whether he was Chinese or Japanese.
“Hmm… Well, it should be fine. They said there are still 25 years left. If I can just slowly persuade him within that time, it’ll work out.”
The man, not even trying to hide his sinister intentions, began to walk slowly, humming a tune. Specifically, in the exact same direction and with the same destination as where Ryu Ho-yeon had gone.
“I, I like you, hyung. I’ve liked you for a really, really long time.”
Choi Jae-won, who normally didn’t act cute since turning twenty-three, appeared sufficiently adorable today. Ryu Ho-yeon sat on the sofa with his arms crossed, scrutinizing Jae-won like an interviewer as he carefully delivered a confession he had been holding onto for a long time.
After being embarrassed in front of Lee Han-seo and Park Woo-jun, these confession showers had become almost a routine, happening almost daily. The timing was always during that brief period between breakfast and lunch. This was when Ryu Ho-yeon, having slept in and eaten his fill, was in his best and most positive mood of the day.
“Hmm, okay. Better than yesterday.”
Ryu Ho-yeon added today’s score with an air of superiority: 76 points. For reference, yesterday’s score was only 41 points. The reason was that listening to someone read a five or six-page letter in person was extremely boring. It was also the lowest score among all the confessions so far.
“Only 4 points left…! Almost there…”
“Don’t let your guard down. What if you plummet back to 40 points tomorrow? How embarrassing would that be?”
“Yes. I won’t become complacent and will continue to work hard.”
“Good, good.”
The young “boomer” and his loyal, lovesick servant were quite compatible.
Ryu Ho-yeon had generously promised to date Jae-won once his confession score exceeded 80 points. There were no objective scoring criteria or anything—the score was determined solely by Ryu Ho-yeon’s momentary judgment, or in other words… entirely dependent on his mood.
Despite receiving all these confessions for his amusement but refusing to date, spitting out arbitrary scores without allowing any proper objection, oddly enough, Choi Jae-won showed no intention of getting off this unfair seesaw he had willingly climbed onto. He knew well that Ryu Ho-yeon wasn’t the type to engage in false hope out of laziness.
If he had no intention of accepting at all, he wouldn’t have opened the door from the beginning. The fact that he was somehow willing to listen to the confessions meant that he had some inclination to accept someday. Although when exactly that “someday” would come made one quite anxious.
“Hyung, tomorrow I’m thinking of a more public place with many people gathered for a more spectacular…”
Ryu Ho-yeon exclaimed convulsively before Choi Jae-won could finish: Zero points, zero points, zero points!! It was the worst of the worst, not worth hearing any further.
